1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power connection/disconnection mechanism which connects and disconnects power by moving a clutch cover by bringing a contact portion of a lever into abutment with and separation from a projecting portion of a clutch cover so as to bring a claw portion of the clutch cover into engagement with and disengagement from a toothed portion of a gear, a medium feeding apparatus which includes the power connection/disconnection mechanism and a recording apparatus and liquid ejecting apparatus which include the medium feeding apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one of related art methods of transmitting power only at a certain timing, there exists a mechanism which connects and disconnects power by controlling a combination of a solenoid, a claw and a cam. This mechanism is made up of a solenoid, a movable claw which is joined to the solenoid at one end thereof and a cam having a recess portion which the other end of the cam is brought into engagement with and disengagement from. In addition, there is provided a gear on an outer circumferential portion of the cam, and the cam rotates together with the gear (see, for example JP-A-2000-203738).
In this mechanism, the rotation of the cam is controlled by the movement of the claw so as to connect and disconnect power, and the movement of the claw is implemented by the solenoid. When the claw is removed from the recess portion, the cam, whose rotation have been stopped until then by the claw, starts to rotate so as to transmit power, and when the claw enters the recess portion of the cam, the rotation of the cam is stopped by the claw so as to disconnect power. The connection and disconnection of power is enabled by the mechanism like this.
In the related art mechanism used to connect and disconnect power, in the event that a large reaction force Is generated on a power transmitting side, there has been a risk that a force is transmitted in an opposite direction to a driving direction at an initial stage of changeover of power, whereby the claw which has controlled the connection and disconnection of power is dislodged, leading to an event where the connection and disconnection of power is not properly implemented.